It is better to leave people like Ashwin and Jayant as tailenders and specialist bowlers and not hype them as capable batsmen. The advantage of that is they will swing their bat like tailenders do and maybe get a few runs. Conversely, with all the hype around them (esp Ashwin) as all rounders they try to play like a batsman and will be found wanting for technique on pitches assisting bowlers. Seriously, Ashwin or Jayant cannot bat well enough to get to double digits also outside the sub-continent. But our media hypes them and they get sucked in. End result is what we saw. Guess what would have happened if Starc had played to save his wkt in the first innings.

As to spin - neither we have capable batsmen nor capable bowlers. Ashwin is good only on spinfriendly pitches. I rate Jadeja better than him on non-spinfriendly tracks. Pujara and Ajinkya are better among the lot but Ajinkya is awfully out-of-form. Rest of them try to just hit limited overs shots agaisnt spinners. No skill to negotiate spin. Last decent batsman against spin was Laxman who played Murali very well.

Only that time Sachin carried all the weight of Indian expectations. I recall Ian Chappell commenting when Sachin was taking McGrath to the cleaners in a test match in Australia.. he goes to Ravi or Sunil .. why do you bring only 1 batsman on the tour.

From Saturday. Hope they at least draw the match. I think it has become very tricky now. If they produce a decent pitch, starc and hazelwood will kill them. In that case forget about we bowling out Aus twice. Plus who will stop smith from scoring 6th successive ton against us.

I was actually very wary of BD. Luckily we won that match. Their spinner Mehdi had done very well recently. On a spinning track like Pune, he would have run thru us.

I don't believe India depends only on Kohli. Just like it never depended only on srt. However, that makes a good story for media to sell and the advertisers to have a superstar sell underwear and banians.

Preparing a rank turner was a cardinal mistake especially with the present crop of spinners. They aren't in the business of getting big purchase from the pitch. Their trade is to bowl 4-5 variations of speeds and spins, keep the batsman confused. Amit Mishra would have been a better pick than Jayant Yadav who hardly turns the ball. Bhajji in his prime would have killed Australia on that Pune pitch.

Ashwin has ways to go before he is in the league of Harbhajan and Kumble. He takes too long to pick his first wicket like 7-9 overs on average, this shows it takes him an hour to get into rhythm.

Preparing a rank turner was a cardinal mistake especially with the present crop of spinners. They aren't in the business of getting big purchase from the pitch. Their trade is to bowl 4-5 variations of speeds and spins, keep the batsman confused. Amit Mishra would have been a better pick than Jayant Yadav who hardly turns the ball. Bhajji in his prime would have killed Australia on that Pune pitch.

Ashwin has ways to go before he is in the league of Harbhajan and Kumble. He takes too long to pick his first wicket like 7-9 overs on average, this shows it takes him an hour to get into rhythm.

I agree Amit Mishra would have been a good choice instead of Jayant on that wkt. After the match started and it became apparent that the match would be over in 3 days, I wondered why he wasn't picked. But legspinners can turn out pretty expensive esp Ina low scoring match.

Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla haven't got the support they deserved. Wonder why.

I agree Amit Mishra would have been a good choice instead of Jayant on that wkt. After the match started and it became apparent that the match would be over in 3 days, I wondered why he wasn't picked. But legspinners can turn out pretty expensive esp Ina low scoring match.

Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla haven't got the support they deserved. Wonder why.

I think the English batsmen gave in way too easy in the test series, our bowling was not that great, they showed no confidence, spine or counter attack. Because of this our selectors and team mgmt thinks Ashwin and Jadeja will keep getting 20 wickets easy. I would not have picked 2 pacers either, better to get 3 spinners and 1 pacer with one all rounder, that's the only way I would have picked Jayant Yadav as the spinning all rounder.

btw, when is Ishant retiring? Kicked out from IPL, not being picked up in T20s and ODIs.. tests is pretty much all he is playing. Bugger never developed a yorker..

I think the English batsmen gave in way too easy in the test series, our bowling was not that great, they showed no confidence, spine or counter attack. Because of this our selectors and team mgmt thinks Ashwin and Jadeja will keep getting 20 wickets easy. I would not have picked 2 pacers either, better to get 3 spinners and 1 pacer with one all rounder, that's the only way I would have picked Jayant Yadav as the spinning all rounder.

btw, when is Ishant retiring? Kicked out from IPL, not being picked up in T20s and ODIs.. tests is pretty much all he is playing. Bugger never developed a yorker..

The reverse happened in this match. We got cowed down. With their tails up Aus is going to be far more competitive than their talent allows.

The age old method of destroying a spinner's rhythm is to use the feet to force him to vary his length and line. Such technique was regularly used by our earlier batsmen of 80s and 90s. That's how SRT destroyed Warne. Sixer Siddhu employed it very effectively. What has happened today? Did we see anyone trying that? Check out how many stumpings have been in the recent past and we will know how good these guys are at using their feet against spin? Only exception to that in the current team isnMurali Vijay. Rest all play from the crease. This allowed the not so great spinner just hold his l&l and the batsmen did the rest to themselves with some aid from the pitch.

The reverse happened in this match. We got cowed down. With their tails up Aus is going to be far more competitive than their talent allows.

The age old method of destroying a spinner's rhythm is to use the feet to force him to vary his length and line. Such technique was regularly used by our earlier batsmen of 80s and 90s. That's how SRT destroyed Warne. Sixer Siddhu employed it very effectively. What has happened today? Did we see anyone trying that? Check out how many stumpings have been in the recent past and we will know how good these guys are at using their feet against spin? Only exception to that in the current team isnMurali Vijay. Rest all play from the crease. This allowed the not so great spinner just hold his l&l and the batsmen did the rest to themselves with some aid from the pitch.

You need guts and speed to advance down the pitch or else it looks damn silly. Hardly any Indian batsman these days is good at it, not even Kohli I don't think.